The turtle

I have a blow-up turtle in my living room. He floats, and has a sun canopy and a little seat. And the baby loves him.

We went down to the pool early this afternoon, before the storm rolled through. I came to the realization of how my summers have changed. Now I look outside and think "Oh, it's cloudy - perfect time to go to the pool!" A far cry from my usual baking in the sun for hours.

Anyways, we went to the pool and E got to float around on the turtle. She had a ball. Legs kicking, babbling and squawking (yes, she squawks). The heater is fixed, and it was the perfect temperature. Wonderful experience today.

After we came back up, she was patient enough for me to get a picture of her in today's bathing suit.



Then she got cranky and started sucking her thumb.



So, I cheered her up with a bath :-)

Still here

I'm still here. I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth yet. Don't worry.

First, I got sick. The flu with a baby is no fun. But she's a good baby, and we survived.

Then, I kept meaning to post, but wanted to put in this video. Which has taken me four long nights of fighting with the computer to do just what I wanted it to do. But, I won.

So, here it is. E and her first time really swimming in the pool. It was the perfect temperature and she actually seemed to enjoy it, unlike the other times where she only lasted 2 minutes with her feet in before she got mad cause it was too cold . . . please excuse the excessive boobage. I hadn't realized just how much E pulled my top when she grabbed it, and my mother was kind enough to get it on tape without warning me. (It's really not that bad, though. I don't think :-)

Happy Father's Day :-)

Happy Father's Day to M, and my own dad, of course. The baby and I went to visit him, and we went out to a car show. It was unbelievably hot, but still pretty fun. Lots of old cars, not so much of the muscle cars. We gave the jogging stroller a workout, it does pretty good on grass and bumpy gravel.

Happy Two Months to E! She's gotten so big! *sniff* My little girl is growing up already.



This morning before heading out to church, we took a few minutes out on the balcony to smell the flowers and listen to the birds. I'm super excited that my Calamondin tree decided not to die and actually has a ton of flowers on it. Maybe it will even bear some fruit. Not that I'll be eating those atomically sour things, but hey, it would be cool to have a citrus bear fruit all the way up here.


E is getting the hang of sitting in her Bumbo seat, just not for too long, or her neck gets tired. (It must be rough having such a big, old head). She's just about grown out of my favorite favorite sleeper that I put her in. I call it her bunny suit. I've gotten real good at making up random names for things. But yeah, it's about time to retire the bright pink sleeper, before she busts holes in the feet.

Daddy, I want a pony!

It's in her blood. She's got the bug, the fever. She's a horse lover already. She actually reached out and pet KC. She smiled, she babbled and gurgled (if she could giggle yet, I'm sure she would have). Leadline class - here we come!

*disclaimer to her daddy* He doesn't bite, and he likes the baby. Honest! She was never in danger :-)

We have a thumb sucker!

She finally found it. And it must have been really tasty, cause she sure was happy about it. At least now I know we have a back up if I misplace the pacifier.


Today, we went downtown to pick up a birth certificate. Found the court house, waited in line, paid the ridiculous fee, and got a nice and new copy. It was a beautiful day, so we wandered around outside for a while. It was basketball fever all around, with a big old festival looking thing set up, music blaring and a certain famous player's namesake stuff everywhere. We sat and people watched for a while by the fountains.


A few minutes after sitting down, the sprinklers came on and the wind picked up every drop of water and misted it all in our direction. So, we moved on and headed back towards the car, stopping at the park overlooking the stadium and lake. M called and E patiently studied the tree nearby while we chatted. I completely forgot to mention to him the giant windmill (wind harnessing machine or whatever its called) that had been put up on the lake. I found it amusing that the city would invest in one, but only one. All that wind and they would only put in one. Makes no sense.


On a completely unrelated note, I want my hair back! It's still too short to put up in a ponytail and is constantly in my face. Really really annoying.

A Three Minute Drive to the Past

It takes exactly three minutes to drive from my mom's house to M's parent's house when driving like a reckless high schooler.

I am, and always have been perpetually late. Tonight, as I was speeding up 306 between the houses, I had such a feeling of deja vu. How many times did I peel out of the driveway like a bat out of hell, and fly over to M's house, pulling in at least 10 minutes late. Only now, there's a baby in the backseat, and M isn't standing in the driveway waiting for me to get there.

Such warm and fuzzy memories are all over B-Town (like certain parking lots, eh? ;-). It just seems so unnatural to be sitting at his parent's kitchen table and the fourth chair is empty.

Watermelon and chlorine

The two smells of the day.

I ate an entire chunk of watermelon today. Probably a good 1/4 of a whole one. And it was delicious. Sweet and juicy and now my kitchen smells like watermelon. Which makes me wish I had another big, old chunk. I foresee a walk to the store on the agenda for tomorrow.

This afternoon, after a glorious, long nap, I woke up to an incredibly toasty apartment. The thermometer on the balcony window said it was 95. That's hot for here, considering yesterday was in the 70s. So, I woke up E (someone did not want to get up, she would have slept the whole day away I think) and we went down to check out the pool for the first time. I found her an adorable swimsuit at Old Navy and she looked so darn cute. Stark contrast from me, though. Simply put, I desperately need to find myself some new bathing suits, now that certain assets have changed size. I did squeeze into one, just for today, and it was almost obscene. Thankfully there was only some strange, older woman down at the pool, and no young children to be scarred by the view. We stayed down there for only a little bit, cause I was worried the water might be too cold for E. But she seemed to enjoy herself, splashing her little legs around. I was pretty entertained by the realization that she floats. Holding her under her arms, her behind and legs will just float on up. So cute. It was just the right pick-me-up for this afternoon. I can't wait for someone to come hang out with me there so we can get her on tape.

Cloth rocks!

I am officially addicted. Cloth diapers are the bomb. Turns out, they're no more disgusting than disposables, look absolutely adorable, and will end up costing a heck of a lot less - providing I squash this addiction and stick with just what we need. Heh, sure, that'll be an easy task.

Here, E is wearing the brightest lime green diaper I've ever seen, and a smile to match!


Yes, she's now smiling all the time. I had her sitting next to me and was reading aloud. I looked over, and there she was, grinning her giant, gummy smile. It's enough to make ya melt. And on the topic of reading material - she seems to prefer my Russian fairy tales to anything I've read in English. A girl after my own heart. However, the Russian folk songs I've been singing haven't had much effect. Maybe it's my singing though . . .

Silence is not Golden

I sit with the TV on all night, just to hear the noise. I lay awake at night, listening to the baby breathe. I get lost in my thoughts when there is nothing to listen to. And lately, my thoughts are not where I want to be lost. They make me cry.

So I play music I don't like, just to drown the silence.

Garage sales

This morning my mom and I hit the local neighborhood garage sale. It was hot and humid, the traffic was brutal, and pickings were slim. However, we did score a Pack'n'Play for $15 that's nearly new, and a pop-up beach shade tent thingy for $8. Now I have a PNP to have at any of the grandparent's houses, and a shady spot for the beach next year.

Here's to more garage sale-ing and scores throughout the rest of the summer.